.
.Narrator
: This is the story of Cinderella, who, as you know, lives with her
mean stepmother and lazy stepsisters. While they're loafing around the
castle or living it up at parties, poor Cinderella has to stay home and
carry out the trash, polish the armor, curse the other three behind
their backs, and make sure all the other household chores are done. As
our story begins, the stepsisters have just received invatations to
attend the Grand Ball at the Palace. The Prince has just returned home
from the war, and everybody wants him to get married. Now, at last the
long–awaited day of the Ball has arrived. (1st stepsister enters, yawns,
and slowly plods toward a chair.) So, as I take my leave, we find the
household in a state of breathless excitement. (Exits. 1st stepsister
slumps motionlessly into kitchen chair, her head resting in her hand.
She yawns and shifts her head to rest on the other hand.)
.
.1st Stepsister : Cinderella! Cinderella!Cinderella : (entering with a broom, mop, feather duster, etc. and is chewing lollipop.) Yes?1st Stepsister : Shut that door! I can't stand hearing those birds sing!Cinderella : Glad to, Stepsister. (shuts door then exits)1st Stepsister : Cinderella! Cinderella!Cinderella : What?1st Stepsister : Open the door! It's stuffy in here!Cinderella
: (through gritted teeth) Certainly, Stepsister. (slams door, then
exits, as Stepmother enters and sees Stepsister slouched in chair.)Stepmother
: Land sakes, girl! Why aren't you getting ready for the Grand Ball,
where your natural beauty and charm will captivate the Prince and you
will get married and live happily ever after?1st
Stepsister : (bored) Hurry, hurry, hurry! That's all you think about.
If I don't conserve my energy, how will I be able to dance with the
Prince tonight?Stepmother : But
it's almost noon! That leaves only 8 hours for you to get ready. By the
way, where is your sister? (she sits down.)1st Stepsister : Up in our room.Stepmother : Is she dressing?1st Stepsister : Not yet.Stepmother : (nervously) Why not? Doesn't she know what time it is?1st
Stepsister : Last week when you saw our room in such a mess, you made
the rule that the last one out of bed in the morning had to clean the
room and make the bed. Remember?Stepmother : Yes, I remember.1st Stepsister : Well, sister is still in bed.Stepmother : Perhaps the poor dear is tired. After all, a growing girl needs plenty of
rest.1st Stepsister : Yes, but a week of it?Stepmother : Do you mean to tell me that it's been a week since she made the bed?1st Stepsister : No, it's been a week since she got OUT of bed.Stepmother
: We simply can't have this! It's intolerable ignorance, disgraceful
lethargy! I'll have Cinderella clean your room and make your bed. She
can work it in between milking the cows and washing the clothes. After
all, a growing girl needs plenty of exercise! (calls) Cinderella!
Cinderella!Cinderella : (bored) What?Stepmother : Shut the door! Those birds are driving me batty!Cinderella : You have legs! You shut it! Oh, I forgot, manual labor isn't in your job! I'll do it, Mother.Stepmother : Stop calling me Mother! It's STEPmother—STEPmother!Cinderella : Yes, STEPmother. Anything else, STEPmother?Stepmother
: Go upstairs, wake your other Stepsister and make her bed. Then help
her get ready for the Ball where her natural beauty and charm will
captivate the Prince, and he will marry her and they will live happily
ever after!

.
.Narrator
: There it is: Scene one—short, yet long enough to spin the intricate
web of intrigue necessary to engage the viewers in various speculations
until a satisfying conclusion is reached. Of course, if you've read the
story, you know about all that. After 8 long hours of brushing hair and
teeth, attaching eyelashes and earrings, smearing rouge and lipstick,
and painting fingernails and toenails—in case they lose a
slipper—Cinderella's two stepsisters and the Stepmother, too, depart for
the Grand Ball where their natural beauty and charm will—oh, get on
with it! (exits)
.
.Cinderella : I've hurried through my work so fast, I've nothing left to do. (Fairy Godmother enters brandishing her magic wand)Fairy Godmother : (waving wand with a flourish) Presto chango—alakazam, and... open sesame!Cinderella : Wh-what? Who are you?Fairy Godmother : I'm your... I am here to... ah-h-h... I came to... I was summoned... ah-h-h... I... I... I don't know!Cinderella : (pointing to wand) A wand! I'll bet your my Fairy Godmother!Fairy
Godmother : Yes that's right! I'm your Fairy Godmother. You're Little
Red Riding Hood, and I'm supposed to save you from the Three Little
Pigs!Cinderella : No, I'm Cinderella.Fairy Godmother : (puzzled) What are YOU doing in The Three Little Pigs?Cinderella
: I don't live here with The Three Little Pigs. I live here with my
stepmother and 2 stepsisters. Three... three, ah-h-h, big pigs!Fairy Godmother : What happened to Little Red Riding Hood?Cinderella
: I don't know about Little Red Riding Hood. All I know is that I'm
supposed to get a gorgeous hairdo, a beautiful new evening gown—with
sparkly slippers to match—and a coach to take me to the Grand Ball,
where my natural beauty and charm will captivate the Prince, and he will
marry me and we will live happily ever after.Fairy
Godmother : So THAT'S it! Okay. Let's start with the coach. (Circles
wand in air, pauses) Is that a basketball or football coach?Cinderella : No, no! A horse–drawn coach to take me to the Ball!Fairy Godmother : Oh, yes. I remember now! Just show me the pumpkin patch and I'll hocus-pocus it right up.Cinderella : What about my new clothes?Fairy Godmother : Of course, first your gown. Now, where is my wand?Cinderella : In your hand.Fairy
Godmother : (raising wand and waving it in circles) Oh, yes! Now...
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble—(breaking off suddenly) By the way,
what time is it?Cinderella : I don't know! Why?Fairy
Godmother : Well, I just remembered that you have to be by 12:00 pm. If
you don't know what time it is, how will you know when to leave the
Ball?Cinderella : I never thought of that.Fairy
Godmother : Let me try this wand and find out, (Again flourishes wand)
Bulova, Bulova, toil and Timex. Tell me—(knock on door is heard)Cinderella
: Who could that be? (calling) Come in! (Clock enters quick with jaunty
step, snapping his fingers as he approaches Cinderella.)Clock
: (snapping his fingers to the beat of a popular dance step that he
does) A tick and a tock,a tick and a tock... it's Time, Baby, time.
(snaps fingers again and continues with a new dance step, and rhythmical
"ticking") Tick, tock... tick-tock, tick, tick, tock, tick-tock tick,
tick, tock, tick-tock tick.Cinderella : Time? Time for what?Clock : Grand Ball time, chickie-baby. Let's swing! (waltzes around the room withCinderella)Cinderella : With you?Clock : Of course, little lady. Big Mama here said that you needed time and that's my bag. Let's get it where it's at!Cinderella : All right, but this sure isn't what I thought it would be. (to Fairy Godmother.) What about my clothes?Fairy Godmother : Just one moment. I’ll wave my... (looks at wand in puzzlement) my... my...Cinderella : Wand?Fairy
Godmother : Yes, that's it—my wand! I'll wave my wand and when I count
to three you shall have them. Ready? One–two... ah-h-h... two
(pauses)—ahh-h...

Cinderella : Th-three?Fairy Godmother : (jumping joyfully) Yees—THREE!
.
-----blast-----
.
.Narrator
: Well, the Grand Ball is over and it was a blast. Everything started
out as planned. Cinderella arrived in a gorgeous hairdo, a beautiful
evening gown—with sparkly slippers to match—and all her natural beauty
and charm would have captivated the Prince right then and there if some
nutty clock hadn't jumped up and yelled, "Time for the Sockhop!" So-o-o,
all of the shoes were kicked into a big pile in the middle of the
floor, and the whole crowd danced until curfew. And now we are ready for
the final and summarizing scene, where we should learn the answer to
the question: How will the Prince ever find the right slipper for the
right foot, so her can get married and live happily ever after? Let's
begin at the end. (exits)2st Stepsister : Cinderella! Cinderella!Cinderella : Huh?2st Stepsister : Open that door! It's stuffy in here!Cinderella : Whatever.2st Stepsister : Cinderella! Cinderella!Cinderella : What?2st Stepsister : Can't you regulate that stupid door?Cinderella : Maybe. (slams door opened)Stepmother
: (entering) Land sakes, girls! Why aren't you getting your feet ready
to fit into the slipper, so your natyuyryal beautyyy and charm will—1st
Stepsister : Come off it, Mother! You know I'll never get these size
nines into those little slippers. (Irritably) Cinderella, shut that
door!Cinderella : Ohh! (closes door then slams it again—for the record)Stepmother : We have plans to make so that you can get ready to fit into the slipper so that you natural beauty and charm—1st Stepsister : Maybe lying in bed for the next week would help shrink my feet? (knocking on door)Stepmother : Cinderella, open that door! (she opens the door and the Prince comes in carrying boxes and boxes of shoes)Prince : Who's first?Stepmother : (grabs two boxes) Here girls! Try these on! Chop, chop!2st Stepsister : Oh, these fit perfectly!Cinderella : But, Prince, does this mean you have to marry both of them?Prince
: Who said anything about marrying them? After the Ball, I was left
with a mountain of shoes. I'm recruiting an army of sales clerks to open
a whole new chain of stores! Ladies to the truck!Cinderella : But, what about living happily ever after...Prince : At last, I have time for you!Clock : (rushes in) TIME? Did you say TIME? Well wind me up and ring my chime!Prince : Our love is timeless!Cinderella : (turning to camera) This has got to be the end!
.
Well ?